Law Schools

Scalia Says U of C Law School Has Lost its Conservative Edge

Updated: The University of Chicago Law School has changed since Justice Antonin Scalia used to teach there, and he is not happy about it. Responding to a question at a Federalist Society event in Chicago, Scalia said the school is no longer the conservative bastion it once was, the Chicago…

Sep 17, 2008 12:29 PM CDT

Student who Took Scalia’s Class Calls him ‘Down to Earth’

Two law students admit they were a little intimidated to take a class taught by Antonin Scalia, but they found the justice to be down-to-earth and caring. Students from New England Law Boston took Scalia’s class on separation of powers this summer at a satellite location in Ireland, the Boston…

Sep 16, 2008 3:23 PM CDT

Student Hurricane Network Provides Legal Help for Katrina Victims

Students at the University of Illinois law school are collecting donations in large orange buckets at football games to help victims of Hurricane Katrina. The students are among the volunteers collecting money for a national group called the Student Hurricane Network Gulf Coast Relief Fund, the Daily Illini reports. The…

Sep 15, 2008 3:18 PM CDT

Is It Time to Give Law School Casebooks a Decent Burial?

A conference to be held in Seattle later this month could be the beginning of the end for the traditional law school casebook. Such weighty tomes are cumbersome, expensive and unnecessary at a time when electronic communication is commonplace, especially among the younger generation, reports the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. So law…

Sep 12, 2008 8:34 PM CDT

Client Who Told Fla. Lawyer in 1999 She Helped Bury Body Now Tells Authorities

Almost a decade ago, a 22-year-old client of Florida attorney Jay Hebert told him she had helped bury the body of a missing real estate agent. Her own boyfriend had murdered the woman, who was his wife, the client said, and then persuaded her to help clean up. The secret…

Sep 12, 2008 5:28 PM CDT

3-Year JD Not Tough Enough? Get an MBA, Too, Penn Suggests

For those who might find a standard three-year law school program not challenging enough, the University of Pennsylvania offers another alternative. In the same three years, law students can earn not only a juris doctor degree but an MBA at Penn’s prestigious business school, reports the Philadelphia Business Journal. The…

Sep 12, 2008 4:40 PM CDT

Courts, Prosecutor Offices, Law Schools Close for Hurricane Ike

As Hurricane Ike approaches the Gulf Coast of Texas, several Texas courts are closing, and the attorney general has a plan to warn shelter officials of potential sex offenders in their midst. Tex Parte Blog reports court closings in Harris County, at the 9th Court of Appeals in Beaumont and…

Sep 12, 2008 2:58 PM CDT

‘Unrealistic Goal’ Helped Ex-Inmate Journey from Prison Cell to Yale Law

Andres Idarraga’s future didn’t look promising when his drug-dealing caught up with him and he was sentenced to a 14-year term in a Rhode Island prison. He was about 20 years old and had never graduated from high school. But he began spending all his free time in the prison…

Sep 11, 2008 11:46 PM CDT

OK, Discovery’s a Problem, But What Can Be Done About It?

An interim report (reg. req.) on a recent survey of trial lawyers about the American civil justice system has confirmed what many feared: Out-of-control discovery, among other issues, is making it difficult or impossible to pursue many cases that traditionally would have been brought, as parties settle or even decide…

Sep 11, 2008 6:30 PM CDT

More Fed’l Judges Seek Law Clerks With Practice Experience

Traditionally, federal judges have hired law clerks straight out of law school or sometimes, in the case of appeals court judges, after they have completed a clerkship in a lower court. But now many are seeking law clerks with actual experience practicing law, often looking to big firms for prospects,…

Sep 11, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

St. Louis Law School Takes the Train in Chicago to Snag Young Professionals

St. Louis University Law School is trying to snag some potential law students from a neighboring state with ads touting its “intimate environment” posted in Chicago el trains and airports. One ad features a second-year student identified as “Kara” who says, “You get the best of both worlds here—an intimate…

Sep 11, 2008 1:57 PM CDT

More Law Schools Hiring Professor Power Couples

For several law schools, the hiring of law professors has become a package deal. As the number of law professor couples increases and the competition for top faculty becomes more intense, several law schools are hiring both spouses, the National Law Journal reports. The legal newspaper says these law school…

Sep 11, 2008 1:32 PM CDT

Law Profs’ Campaign Contributions Overwhelmingly Favor Democrats

Law professors have donated more than $1 million to the political parties and the presidential candidates, with more than 90 percent of the money flowing into Democratic coffers. Law profs donated $623,472 to the parties, and almost 93 percent of it went to Democrats, TaxProf Blog reports, using figures from…

Sep 10, 2008 1:41 PM CDT

Will Calif. Supreme Court Provide Bar Data for Controversial Study?

Seeking to pursue a controversial study about the effectiveness of law school affirmative action programs, researchers have sued the State Bar of California for access to 30 years of examination records. They are now asking the state supreme court to compel the bar association to turn over the bar exam…

Sep 8, 2008 5:10 PM CDT

Chief Justice Ponders ‘Choose KKK’ License Plates in Moot Court Case

University of Florida law student Cary Aronovitz was only about a minute into his moot court argument when Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. interrupted him with a question. Aronovitz said he had anticipated the question, although it was a difficult one that he didn’t want to answer, FlaLaw Online…

Sep 8, 2008 2:32 PM CDT